


As Sure As Tomorrow Will Come

by captaineifersucht



Series: Dressed in the Scenery [3]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bard is his bodyguard, Established Relationship, Family Struggles, Kissing, M/M, Single dads makin it work, Thranduil is a successful designer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 02:09:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3157025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaineifersucht/pseuds/captaineifersucht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em> Things had changed. Bard wasn’t just a single dad trying to juggle everything now. He had help.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Sure As Tomorrow Will Come

**Author's Note:**

> this was my last planned part of this AU, however I am going to try and write another before the semester engulfs me!

Bard treaded carefully down the carpeted hallway to Bain’s room. The door to Sigrid and Tilda’s shared bedroom was shut, the shrill sound of laughter emanating from within. In his mind, he could picture his two girls excitedly talking about each other’s dresses, arguing about who would have their hair done first.

It was opening night for the school play.

The two had worked so hard for months and were thrilled to see the fruits of their labor. Bard felt a sense of accomplishment too. It was he, after all, who drove them to and from the practices every other day, on top of working full time and making sure Bain actually did all of his homework.

However, things had changed. Bard wasn’t just a single dad trying to juggle everything now. He had help. 

Thranduil brought over warm meals, insisted on sewing costumes by hand. At night, he whispered to Bard that it was hard being an empty nester. He missed his son, Legolas, who was two time zones away in college. So, it became an anomaly when Thranduil was _not_ present for dinnertime, in replacement of the awkward suppers held during the first few months of their relationship.

In the morning, Thranduil made breakfast, packed lunches, braided and plaited hair. Although he left sweet notes in each brown bag, there was still one child who hadn’t quite taken to the new member of the family.

Bain resisted any time spent with Thranduil, but gazed enviously as the designer carefully instructed his sisters on how to tie flowers into their hair. Sigrid would be all smiles, Tilda giggling as long fingers tickled behind her ears.

When Bard asked if they’d like to spend more time together, Bain insisted that there was no point. He wasn’t a girl.

“ Neither is Thranduil.” Bard’s eyebrows had been raised as he crouched at his only son’s bedside. 

Bain had wrinkled his nose and rolled over to face the wall in the darkness. There was no use arguing with him, especially when the boy was tired. After placing a kiss on Bain’s forehead, Bard had left the room. With a month still left before the play’s dress rehearsal at that point, he had to rectify the animosity between his son and his lover. 

The dress rehearsal had came and went, flyers were mailed out to those parents who requested them ahead of time. Bard had one on the refrigerator. Thranduil had one pinned to the corkboard in his office. He’d bought an ad in the playbill--a full page.

It was early evening now, the sun still shining through the windows, seeping out of the cracked door to Bain’s room in a thin sliver. The young boy had shut himself inside as soon as he’d gotten off the school bus. Thranduil and Bard had both taken half days. 

Bard thought he could hear a sniffle. His heart clenched for his son, who wanted his father to be a gun-toting secret serviceman whose life was much more exciting than the reality of domestication Bard had found with Thranduil. He wanted to be more for Bain, he wanted his son to realize that he could do whatever he pleased. Bard would stand by him no matter what.

Bain hadn’t realized the freedom that Thranduil’s presence granted them as a family.

The girls would have never asked to be a part of the play if not nudged forward by the designer’s exclamations of their beauty, the time spent doing make up, and the knowledge that Bard now had enough time to make it happen. Bain was jealous of all the attention they got, when he could use the opportunity to explore his own interests with his father. Bard would just have to show him.

He knocked softly on the door, nudged it open to see Bain sitting up on the edge of his bed, small black socks slipping off of his feet and brown t-shirt rumpled. Bard sat on the folding chair near the corner of the room, trying to meet his son’s eyes.

 

“ I don’t want to go.” Bain crossed his arms over his chest and continued to look out the window.

“ That’s fine.”

Tilda and Sigrid, though still so young, hadn’t been the slightest bit upset when Thranduil suggested that Bain had another activity to attend to the night before. They knew that love stories weren’t exactly their brother’s forte.

Wide, dark eyes turned to stare at Bard. “ I can stay home?”

“ Well,” Bard started, taking his time to look out the window now. He could see a car pulling into the driveway. Right on time. “ It’s a long weekend, you know. Thranduil’s son, Legolas, is home for spring break, and he wanted to take you camping. I know you and I haven’t gone in a while, but I figured that Legolas could probably show you some tricks I didn’t know. And in the summer, we can all go. Or just us two. Whoever you want.”

Bain’s lips parted, first in shock and then split into a grin. He hopped up with an energy Bard had missed seeing in his son lately. They embraced, a short thing, and Bard kissed the top of his head.

“ Thanks, da.” 

Bard mussed the curly auburn locks of hair as they left the room together. “ Don’t thank me. Thranduil arranged the whole thing. He really does love you, Bain.”

Those eyes were downcast, socked feet scuffing the carpet where they had halted. 

“ I know he does.” Bain took off on his own, to find Thranduil arranging a thick Dutch braid atop Sigrid’s head.

Bard looked on from the kitchen with a smile. The boy and the man hugged as Legolas walked through the front door only to be bombarded by two princesses who were elegant in dress, but not quite there in manners. 

“ I’m sorry,” he overheard from Bain while walking to greet the oldest of the children in the house. Legolas had visited before at Thanksgiving and Christmas, stayed for a week through the holidays where Bard learned to appreciate the young man’s refined conversational skills and his expansive knowledge in the area of environmental law. 

The happiness of his children was still Bard’s utmost priority. He remembered when that kept him from dating. Now, he was sure that Thranduil only helped to enrich their lives even further. All fear of forward progress with the designer had dissipated. Bard knew that if he and Thranduil decided to move in together permanently and completely meld their lives together, the children would only benefit. There was no conflict of interest here. Thranduil cared for the three of them just as much as he did.

Everyone was in the front room, gathered in small clusters. There was a momentary calm before Bain tugged on Legolas’ shirt sleeve and pulled him back down the hallway to pack up two bags. The girls rushed into the dining room, to the chairs that they had been getting their hair done in. Sigrid loudly proclaimed that she could do Tilda’s hair, that Thranduil had taught her.

Bard looked over at his boss, his partner, the man that he loved, with a deep fondness. The sounds bouncing off the four walls of the small home he’d worked so hard to provide for were those of joy and laughter. He couldn’t have done it without Thranduil.

“ Thank you,” he murmured, walking close enough to ensnare the designer by the waist. “ For arranging the trip with Legolas, for doing all the clothing for the girls...for everything.”

Thranduil looked down at him with genuine happiness that made his eyes bright and his nostrils flare with the emotion. A pale hand swiped over Bard’s jaw, to cup his chin. “ I love you, Bard. I love our family.”

“ God, I love you too.” 

He brought their lips together with force enough to remind Thranduil exactly how much he was appreciated and adored, dipped his tongue into the other man’s mouth to hint at what was in store when they finally got some alone time. Maybe too large of a hint, as he broke apart when the snickering of two children could be heard from the doorway. There was a flush on Thranduil’s cheeks and Bard felt brief embarrassment in his stomach, but he couldn’t be more pleased. 

_Their_ family.


End file.
